Switch point guard rail



Nov. 13, 1962 R. M. Fm 3,063,641

SWITCH POINT GUARD RAIL Filed July 8, 1960 i. I {1' U "I iw INVENTOR Russc/ Mi /fan Frey ATTORNEY United States Patent OfiFice 3,063,641 Patented Nov. 13, 1962 3,063,641 SWITCH POINT GUARD RAIL Russel Milton Frey, Marysville, Pa., assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of lr'ennsylvania Filed July 8, 1960, Ser. No. 41,518 3 Claims. (Cl. 238-22) This invention relates to a railway guard rail assembly which enables the guard rail to be readily removed without unspiking the assembly.

Guard rails are usually placed at locations, such as switches, where they receive very hard usage, and may require occasional replacements for breakage and wear. Where the guard rail is spiked directly to a wooden crosstie, or is so tightly fastened to a spiked-down base plate or slide plate as to necessitate its removal together with the guard rail, the repeated drawing and redriving of the spikes will soon kill or destroy the holding power of the tie.

A fixed side brace and a filler block which is bolted to the guard rail are further requisites for full rigidity of the assembly, but in most assemblies they will also interfere with or prevent the removal of the guard rail.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a guard rail assembly including a base plate with a fixed rail brace and a filler block, from which the guard rail can be easily removed and replaced without either unspiking the assembly or removing the rail brace.

Additional objects, purposes and advantages of this assembly will appear hereinafter in the specification and claims, and in the appended sheet of drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a switch point guard rail assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a vertical transverse section, taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a switch point of conventional type, connected by side jaws clips 2, bolts 3 and nuts 4 to switch rods 5, which latter are disposed in parallel spaced relation to adjacent wooden cross-ties 6. Upon said cross-ties are seated the elongated rectangular rolled steel slide or base plates 7, each of which is provided with spike holes 8 and countersunk bolt holes 9 and a welded inclined brace 10. Said brace 10 supports against side thrust the head 11 of a guard rail 12 with vertical web 13 and standard outer base flange 14 and stub inner flange 15. A pair of countersunk round head square neck bolts 16 extend upward through the base plate bolt holes 9, registering holes 17 in the guard rail flange 14, and bevel washers 18 and spring lock washers 19 whereon they are secured by hex nuts 20. Flat filler plates or shims may be added if desired to elevate the base of the guard rail 12.

Said base plates 7 are also provided with pockets 21 on their upper face to receive the wide flange base 22 of the stock or main rail 23 of standard T-section, with its web 24 and head 25 being held in parallel spaced relation to the guard rail 12 by interposed rolled steel filler blocks 26.

The side of the filler block 26 facing the main rail 23 is provided with a central longitudinal slot or recess 27 in which is seated a square nut 28 preferably secured by spot welding as at 2?, and normally tightly engaging the threaded end 39 of a bolt 31. The head 32 of said bolt bears against a spring washer 33 on the outer face of the guard rail web 13, and the shank 34 of the bolt extends through the registering transverse horizontal bolt holes 35 and 36 in the guard rail Web 13 and the filler block 26 respectively.

With this assembly, it is a very simple matter to replace the guard rail without having to pull any spikes from the ties or having to omit or remove the side braces. This is done by merely withdrawing the horizontal bolts 31, removing the filler blocks 26 by sliding them between the rails to the end of the guard rail 12, and removing the nuts 24 and washers l9 and 18. It is then easy to raise the guard rail 12 until the bottom of the base of the rail 12 clears the upper ends of the bolts 16, and to slide the horizontal guard rail longitudinally until it clears the braces 10, or else to tilt it and snake it out vertically.

In addition to allowing the guard rail to be removed as described, the brace supports the head of the rail laterally and reduces the flexing of the rail under service.

Although I have above described my invention in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited narrowly to the exact and specific particulars described, but I may also use such other substitutes, modifications or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a demountable guard rail assembly, a base plate, a main rail and a guard rail in spaced parallel relation to each other on the base plate, said guard rail having a stub inner base flange and a full outer base flange, meansremovably securing the outer base flange of said guard rail solely to said base plate, a filler block between the main rail and the guard rail, a bolt hole through the filler block, a recess at the end of said bolt hole away from the guard rail, a corresponding bolt hole through the guard rail, a nut secured against rotation in the recess, a bolt passing through the bolt holes with its threaded end engaging the nut securing the guard rail to the filler block, and a side brace afiixed to the base plate and engaging the head of the guard rail, said side brace having sutficient clearance thereunder to permit upward removal of the guard rail and being offset from the line of the bolt holes sutliciently to allow removal of the bolt.

2. In a guard rail assembly, a main rail, a guard rail in spaced parallel relation to the main rail, a filler block interposed between the guard rail and the main rail, 21 base plate under the guard rail and the main rail, bolt means extending upwardly through the base plate and the base of the guard rail thereon, an elongated recess in the side of the filler block adjacent to the main rail, a nut secured against rotation in said recess, aligned bolt holes extending through the guard rail and the filler block to said recess, a bolt having its shank passing through the holes in the guard rail and the filler block with its end threaded into said nut and securing the guard rail to the filler block, and an inclined rail brace having its lower end aflixed to the base plate and its upper end supporting the head of the guard rail against side thrust, with the under side of said upper end of the rail brace being sufficiently spaced from the top of the bolt means to allow the base of the guard rail to be lifted clear of said bolt means, said rail brace being offset from the line of the bolt holes sufiiciently to allow removal of the bolt.

3. In combination with a wooden cross-tie, a base plate spiked thereon, a main rail seated on the base plate, a guard rail bolted on the base plate, an inclined brace integral with the base plate and normally supporting the head of the guard rail but shaped to permit the base flange of the guard rail to be lifted and removed, a filler block between the guard rail and the main rail, a recess in the side of the filler block away from the guard rail, an interiorly threaded member secured against rotation in said recess, aligned bolt holes through the guard rail and the filler block communicating with said recess, and a bolt passed through the holes in the guard rail and the filler block and engaged by said member, the brace be- 3 ing ofiset from the bolt holes sufiiciently to allow removal of the bolt, thereby permitting the guard rail to be removed after unbolting same from the filler blpcl; and base plate and removing the filler block.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 656,883 Eames Aug, 23, 1900 4 Leslie Apr. 15, 1902 Purcell Aug. 14, 1928 Hobart Sept. 29, 1931 ONeill Oct. 13, 1936 Asselin Mar. 18, 1941 Asselin Apr. 29, 1947 Riddle Feb. 20, 1951 Asseiin May 20, 1952 Riddle Oct. 11, 1955 

